Brand New Day
by Sir Gawaine
Summary: 'I'll be skipping stones at your window, I'll be waiting outside till you're ready to go…'. Maria Blair finally finds a buyer for the cottage by the sea. The fourteenth in the Harry, Ruth, Kodaline series.


**A/N – This is the penultimate one, guys! Only one more to go! The second to last! You get the idea and I apologise for my excitement. I'm quite pleased that I have got this far. I wasn't going too upload it so soon after the last one but today is my birthday and so I thought I would give all of you lovely people a present :) **

_**I'll be skipping stones at your window, I'll be waiting outside till you're ready to go…**_

Maria Blair didn't usually work weekends. She had been with Harper and Sons Estate Agents for long enough that she was given that special compensation, at least. There weren't many perks to the job but that was definitely the best one. Saturdays and Sundays were hers, always. William usually had to work the Saturdays, but he would slip quietly away so as not to wake her and she would spend the late morning, when she finally awoke, pottering around and waiting for his usual lunchtime return. With the twins away at university now, those mornings had become even more peaceful.

It was on such a morning that she received a phone call from the office, from one of her junior co-workers.

"Mrs B," the young man, Jason, was apologetic; her Saturday lie ins were legendary, "I hope I didn't wake you?"

"I just got up," she said, cradling the phone with her shoulder as she poured water into the teapot, "What's up?"

"A woman from London just called about the cottage in Clacton. The one on Smuggler's Lane."

"Oh yes?" Maria sat up and took the phone back in her hand, "What did she want?"

The cottage was a pet project of Maria's, something she had been trying to sell for such a long time that she sometimes felt like the only solution would be to buy it herself. Needless to say, it had become something of a personal challenge.

"She wants to have a look but she can't get here during the week. Something about her job, I don't know. She wants to come today. I told her I'd have to ask you."

Maria took a sip of her tea and glanced at the clock. Ten am. William wouldn't mind if she disappeared for an hour or so in the afternoon, especially if it meant finally being rid of the cottage she kept threatening to put an offer on. He was more than convinced now that one day she might make good on the promise. He turned a lovely shade of grey whenever she brought the subject up.

"Tell her to come down," she told Jason, "Give her my number and tell her to phone me when she is in town."

And so, three hours later, Maria stood outside the cottage, huddled under William's largest golfing umbrella. The rain didn't show the cottage in its best light but she could only hope the woman had imagination. It was a pretty little place, it really was, and she truly believed the right hand would be able to make it beautiful.

A car pulled up right on time and a woman got out. She was perhaps just forty, a good ten years younger than Maria at any rate, and dressed in jeans and a long coat. She smiled shyly as she approached the gate and held out her hand.

"Rachel Evans," she said, "You must be Mrs Blair. Thank you so much for agreeing to come today."

"Maria, please," she replied, smiling softly, "And it's no problem. I am very fond of this cottage. I won't let any of the children get anywhere near it, if I'm honest. It drives them all quite mad, when I refuse to hand it over."

Rachel laughed and followed her up the path. Maria saw her eying the faded paint of the front door.

"Some of it needs refreshing, of course," she admitted, "But it's nothing a few weekends of work won't put right."

Rachel made a noise of agreement but didn't say anything, obviously eager to be inside. Maria let her go first, to step into the charming hallway with the hand-carved bannister that so caught the eye. She listened, satisfied, when Rachel let out a small but telling breath.

Maria led her around the bottom floor, including the small but lovely garden. She didn't say much – she had already marked Rachel for someone who would not appreciate the chatter that some people did on such tours. From Rachel's own silence, she knew she had made the right decision.

"He'll like the garden," Rachel said eventually, more to herself than to Maria, "He jokes about gardening but he enjoys it really."

"Who does?"

"My partner," Rachel answered, but not before she had paused, as though she was not quite sure of what she was saying, "He's going to live here with me. This is a surprise for him, actually. He doesn't know I'm here."

"How lovely," Maria answered, and she meant it as well, "How long have you been together?"

"Years," Rachel said lightly, and Maria wondered immediately why she was lying, "We've never lived together though."

"Well, this is a good place to start."

"I hope so."

Upstairs, they reverted to the silence as Rachel looked carefully at the two bedrooms and the bathroom, the only recently renovated room in the whole cottage.

"I suppose you'll only need the one bedroom," Maria said conversationally, "What do you think you will do with the other one?"

"I think Marcus can use it for an office. It's just the right size. It has a lovely view, doesn't it?"

There was a strip of the sea just visible over the trees from next door's garden, a strip of sea that glittered on sunny days. Maria told Rachel this.

"He'll like that," she nodded.

"What does he do, if you don't mind me asking? Your Marcus?"

The younger woman blushed and didn't answer, gazing steadily out of the window towards the water. Maria watched her, hoping that her interest didn't show too clearly on her face. This was the part of the job she loved the most – people, and all the things that they brought with them.

"Law enforcement," the other woman said eventually, "He's in law enforcement. So am I, actually. That's why it's so hard to get away."

"Did you meet at work?"

"We did," and although Rachel had not been rude, Maria got the feeling that she was being asked to stop with the questions. There was something very secretive about the woman but, at the same time, Maria found she trusted her. If he wanted the interrogation to stop, the reason was probably a very good one. 'Law enforcement' did have something quite romantic about it, after all. 'Law enforcement' also didn't necessarily mean 'police'. It was probably much more complicated than that.

"So, what's your verdict, Miss Evans?"

"I love it," the other woman said sincerely, "I think I will be putting an offer down, just as soon as I've spoken to the bank."

"How lovely," Maria said, inwardly dancing a jig that her working Saturday had paid off, "When shall I expect to hear from you?"

"Soon, I hope," Rachel relaxed and her nervous smile became far more animated, "I just have to tell him now!"

There was something so fresh, so innocent and wide-eyed about Rachel's manner then that Maria knew for sure she had been lying about how long she and Marcus had been together. This was a woman in the first throes of love – passionate and optimistic and so…young.

"Well, I hope it goes well. I hope it's what he wants to hear and I hope you'll be in touch very soon, Miss Evans."

"Thank you. Thank you very much!"

Maria saw her safely away before she got into her own car and drove slowly from the little lane. She wished Miss Evans the best of luck once more and then turned left, on the road to home.

Her William would be waiting.


End file.
